Because of the time he spent in the Sundance Jail in Wyoming, Harry Longabough was forever known as the Sundance Kid. He served 18 months for stealing a saddle with a horse under it. When he was released on February 4, 1889, he was still a greenhorn in the outlaw game.inline_mediumwraptextrightFour Wheeler Trails25400981/adventures/rockies/1001_4wd_hash_knife_ranch1001_4wd_01+hash_knife_ranch+four_wheeler_trails.jpgTrue

Last month, we took a look at Owens Valley's role in growing life as we know it in Los Angeles and southern California. Water hijacked from Owens Valley and delivered to L.A. made it possible to grow a city where chaparral and scrub normally rule. By extension, Owens Valley water helped grow the off-road industry as we know it. If there's no water, how can you be somewhere long enough to explore it? You can't.inline_mediumwraptextrightToyota 4Runner30844779/adventures/west/1001_4wd_inyo_county1001_4wd_01+inyo_county+toyota_4runner.jpgTrue

If a map of the USA, including Alaska and Hawaii, was laid flat on a table, Belle Fourche, South Dakota, would be the "closest city to middle." The exact middle is north of Belle Fourche at what country folks like to call 20th and Plum. That means it's 20 miles from nothing and plum out in the sticks.inline_mediumwraptextrightBelle Fourche Visitor's Center for Center of the Nation.Chamber Of Commerce26490442/adventures/midwest/0912_4wd_belle_fourche0912_4wd_02+belle_fourche+chamber_of_commerce.jpgTrue

Traffic seemed sparse for Memorial Day weekend. At the self-serve Shell station, a pair of BMW motorcycles readied for an overnight stay on the playa. Bruno's Restaurant, a Gerlach landmark, had its breakfast crowd, mostly locals and a handful of conspicuous outsiders. The locals mused about the mild spring weather and eavesdropped on the California trio lamenting the Golden State's deficit and the permit process for launching amateur rockets across the Black Rock Desert...inline_mediumwraptextrightFour Wheeler26489950/adventures/west/0912_4wd_black_rock_desert0912_4wd_01+black_rock_desert+four_wheeler.jpgTrue

February in New Mexico means two things to us: the spring winds are about to howl and our very favorite annual 4WD event is upon us. Truly our rite of spring, the Chile Challenge is held each February near Las Cruces, New Mexico. The event got its start in the early '90s and has grown to such extent that it is now capped at 350 vehicles. With a vendor's display, two delicious catered meals, an ice cream social, and a huge raffle, the Chile Challenge has all the trappings of most big 4WD events. But what continues to bring the people back in droves from near and far is the four wheeling. The Challenge has always been a trail-oriented event and its offerings in the rocky canyons and mountains along the Rio Grande run the gamut from mild to sublimely difficult. Admittedly, most of the event's fame is derived from the extremely challenging trails buried in the nearby ravines and arroyos but the mellower trails also attract devotees that return year after year.

If April showers bring May flowers, then the State of Oregon should have a bumper crop this year! Once again 4WD&SU was invited along on the fifth annual Trail Tour, which took place the last week of April 2009 in the (very) wet areas of central, northern, and western Oregon.

In 1976, Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson starred in a movie about cattle thieves and a gunman hired to put them out of business. Much of it was filmed on location in Montana's Missouri Breaks. The location was well suited to host a story about outlaws. The infamous Kid Curry, a high-ranking member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch, owned a ranch on the north side of the Missouri River. It was located near the town of Landusky. After the train holdup at Exeter Creek, Curry hid out in Hideaway Coulee and Grand Island waiting for things to cool off.

Comb Ridge is one of the many undeveloped areas in Utah where little has changed in the past 1,000 years. It is a place where this generation can venture to ponder the mysteries of the Cliff Dwellers who once inhabited the area. It is a place where gentle breezes blow, where temperatures soar into triple digits, and where the only sounds are those of nature. Getting there requires a combination of using a four-wheel drive vehicle and taking long hikes.

The Rawley Mine was one of the largest producers in the area. Founded in 1880, it shipped more than $6-million worth of ore. In 1911, a new tunnel over a mile long was driven in from this location to access multiple mining properties and provide an exit for the water that plagued the mines. A tram line was erected to carry the processed ore from the Rawley up and over the ridge to the railroad at Shirley. We found the tramline location still shows up clearly on Google Earth.

By 1861, a few hundred miners had moved into a gulch east of the Continental Divide near present day Fairplay. They were getting enough silver out of the mountain to encourage more miners to move in and suddenly realized they were becoming a town. Meetings were held in an effort to find a name for their town but an agreement could not be reached. Sterling City was becoming the favorite by default but the name was not stirring up any excitement.

"So, what's your dog's name?" I asked the shop clerk innocently. The pooch was perched on a counter-top sitting ever-so-mellow despite the flow of foot traffic through the showroom. No barking. No slobbering. Cool dog.

Exploring local 4x4 trails is our favorite activity. Even though we may have traversed these paths many times before, each season brings new challenges as the terrain is reshaped by rainfall and snowmelt. We were feeling that itch to go explore in recent months and found relief in an invite from Chris Wood at AEV. Chris asked us to attend a trail ride in the San Bernardino National Forest along with Big Bear, California-based All J Products and a handful of AEV Nth Degree customers. We jumped at the chance.

A destination in itself, Sandstone Canyon is also a perfect side trip during a weekend spent in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park or in Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area, both east of San Diego, California.

The BLM's Adopt-a-Trail Program is alive and kicking in Arizona. Proof of that is in Mohave County in the northwestern portion of the state. Just a few miles southeast of Kingman and a couple thousand feet higher, you will find the Moss Wash Trail. Moss Wash gets its name because of the moss growing along its bottom from a year-round spring. The Moss Wash Trail leads to the Hualapai Mansion (known locally as the Moss Mansion) and the Gold King Mine. Built in the 1930s during the Great Depression, the mansion is two stories tall, built of 6-inch-thick reinforced concrete, and has high arched windows (now missing all the glass). Built to house the owners of the nearby Gold King Mine, the Hualapai Mansion has been adopted by the Walapai 4 Wheelers, who attempt to keep it graffiti- and trash-free. The Gold King Mine must have been a bust because it only amounts to a 180-foot tunnel and a shaft of 50 feet, so the mansion was soon abandoned.

Once again, it started with some little dirt roads. On the way home from the SEMA show several years ago, a missed turn and the resulting good fortune put us on a section of old Route 66 through Oatman, Arizona. We took a fascinating drive on this narrow, sinuous, and history-soaked section of crumbling blacktop. Cresting the southern end of the Black Mountains on Sitgreaves Pass just as the sun slid behind the mountains west of the Colorado River, we witnessed the incredibly rugged country bathed in shades of pink and purple. But the most intriguing aspect of the drive wasn't the sundown, however sublime, or the hard-surfaced road, no matter how historic. Our attention and imagination were drawn to the dozens of little dirt roads disappearing over every hill and vanishing down every little dry wash. Where did they all lead?

Wagons bound for Oregon during the 1800s were occupied by pioneers and immigrants who had no idea how to get there. They depended on guides, mostly mountain men who had made the journey more than once. Two such men were Caleb Greenwood and Isaac Hitchcock. In 1844, they were in charge of getting the Murphy-Townsend Company across Wyoming when Hitchcock suggested they take a shortcut that would bypass Fort Bridger and save several days of travel.

The main entrance to Arches National Park is a mere 3 miles outside of Moab, yet for its close proximity to the crowds and occasional mayhem of Easter Jeep Safari, it seems eons distant. If you need a change of pace, feel the urge to hike, or simply want to check "Arches National Park" off of your places-to-go-before-you-die list, it's an easy drive from anywhere in Moab. There's no good reason not to go.

No matter how many times you may have read about an adventure, there's nothing like firsthand experience to truly understand what it's all about. Even though I've enjoyed trips to the desert since the mid '80s and consider myself somewhat of a desert rat, I had yet to travel the Mojave Road until recently.

As talk of rich strikes at Virginia City, Bodie and Aurora spread, adventurous prospectors from California's Gold Country flocked to the Eastern Sierra and high desert. By the 1870s, the Sweetwater Mountains on the California/Nevada border crawled with fortune seekers. These mineralized mountains skirted California's Bridgeport Valley, the Antelope Valley, and Nevada's bustling "Esmeralda" mining district.

On October 19, 1856, a raging blizzard blew across the Wyoming plains and engulfed the Martin Company just as they finished pulling their handcarts across the freezing waters of the Platte River. The clothing they wore became frozen solid. There was not enough wood in the area to build fires. They were forced to move on in search of a place to camp. That night, thirteen of them froze to death under their wet blankets. Twelve miles beyond the river, the Martin Company could go no farther. They were stranded for nine days. They were nearly out of food, many were sick and dying, their spirits were broken, and the only shelter they had were ragged tents.

We call it "The Big Adventure." Each year, a small group of four-wheeling friends gets together for our annual rendition of The Big Adventure. The rules are pretty simple: 1) Take a backcountry journey from Point A to Point B; and 2) Stay on dirt as much as possible. We also have a few corollaries to the rules: a) The route should be one most of us haven't been on before; b) It should include at least some terrain where the transfer case finds its way into 4-Lo; and c) the final destination should be somewhere with hot food, cold beverages, and showers. Let us not forget the showers at the end of a long trip!

More than 400 immigrants huddled together in a tent camp at the sixth crossing of the Sweetwater River in Wyoming on Oct 21, 1856. They had nothing to eat and a large number of them were sick with dysentery. Two men, a woman, and an 11-year-old girl had been buried that morning. Dozens of their group had died trying to pull their handcarts across the Wyoming wilderness in snow storms and raging winds. Many of them were too close to death or too numb from the freezing cold to even notice the ghostly image of a wagon appear on a hilltop in the distance. For others, the image began as a dark spot moving slowly across the snow covered horizon. It grew larger and was joined by other dark spots that seemed to glide across the hills covered with a foot of snow. Shouts could be heard through the howling wind and then riders on horses charged into camp. They were followed by 14 wagons loaded with food and supplies. The rescue party had arrived.